Rhetorical Tricks

1. Power words

They grab attention without really saying anything. If the speaker says 'This is an urgent matter' or 'This is really important', she said nothing to the audience, but the speaker got the audience's attention.

2. Catch phrases

They provide a tried-and-true method for drawing to a key point and helping the audience remember it. The advertisements are full of them (e.g., 'Takes a licking and keeps you ticking'). The most famous phrase from recent legal history comes from the O.J. Simpson trial: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit". You can apply this technique to emphasize points in your presentation. Just pick an important point, build a catch phrase around it, and repeat it endlessly.

3. Hyberbole

They are "fancy" words for exaggeration. People use them instinctively in everyday conversation: "I was waiting a year for you to get off the phone". It's a wonderful device for emphasizing a point in a presentation.

4. Allusion

This is a reference to a person, object, or event from the Bible, mythology, or literature. Here's an example from a speech about balancing work and family given by John Adams, as Chairman and CEO of the Texas Commerce Bank: "Opponents of work and family programs say that employers should not involve themselves more deeply in workers' lives, that to do so opens a Pandora's box of raised expectations, employer liability, invasion of privacy, and even accusations of unfairness in providing work-family programs".

5. Alliteration

This refers to a phrase in which the words begin with the same sound. The classic example is former Vice President Spiro Agnew's description of the media as "nattering nabobs of negativism". You can also use this trick to make the title of your presentation more memorable.

6. Metaphor

This is a short, implied comparison that the properties of one item to another. A classic example comes from Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech: "... the manacles of segregation and the chain of discrimination".

7. Simile

This phrase is like a metaphor except that it's a direct comparison of one thing to another (it usually uses the words "like" or "as" to make a comparison). This is an example from a speech about the future of telecommunications given by William Esrey, Chairman and CEO of United Telecom/US Sprint: " The flow of information has since swelled far over the traditional banks, flooding the social landscape such that today, countries ... companies... even individuals ... are like islands in a sea of information".

8.Rhetorical question

This phrase refers to a question that the speaker asks for effect. The audience isn't expected to answer. Here is an example from a speech by the late Benjamin H. Alexander, President of Drew-Dawn Enterprise, Inc.: "Are we free when we cannot leave our homes at night without fear of being assaulted, beaten or robbed? Are we free when, as the richest nation in the world, we permit poverty, beggars, and homeless people everywhere amongst us?"

9. The rule of three

It refers to the technique of grouping together three words, phrases or sentences. For some reason, it makes a powerful impression on the human mind. Some of the most famous passages from the world's greatest oratory have used this technique: "I came. I saw. I conquered" (Julius Caesar), "... government of the people, by the people, for the people..." (Abraham Lincoln).

10. Repetition

This refers to repeating a group of words in an identical rhythm. Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech is a classic example. Dr. King repeated the phrase "I have a dream" throughout the speech.

11. Antithesis

This refers to putting two opposites near each other in a sentence. John F. Kennedy used them all the time: "If a free society cannot help the men who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich", or "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate".